A general conception of the antiscorbutic potency of cow's milk may be
gleaned from the fact that it requires a minimum of about sixteen ounces
(500 c.c.) daily to protect an infant from scurvy or to cure it. Twelve
ounces have failed to effect a cure in several instances, although the
milk was raw and of the best grade. If it is pasteurized, a larger
quantity is required, depending upon various conditions connected with
the heating process and upon the age of the milk, circumstances fully
discussed in relation to etiology. Thus it becomes evident that
pasteurized milk assumes a two-fold rôle, acting as an antiscorbutic if
little of its vitamine content has been destroyed and if a large
quantity is consumed, or leading to the development of scurvy when one
or both of these conditions is unfavorable. The same holds true for milk
which has been boiled for a short period. If the milk has been heated
twice, it tends to produce scurvy; if it is condensed, the greater part
of its antiscorbutic value is destroyed.
It seems necessary to emphasize again the important fact that _dried
milk_ may possess marked antiscorbutic potency, depending on the method
of preparation (Fig. 11). As stated, sixteen ounces of milk dried by the
Just-Hatmaker process cured scurvy promptly, in spite of the fact that
the milk had been dried six months previously. Here, therefore, is a
food of high caloric value, compact, antiscorbutic, and stable. The fact
that milk, in spite of drying, retains this labile vitamine for so long
a period, demonstrates that it is available in the most remote parts of
the world, and that the possibilities of its transportation are
unlimited.
Little is known regarding the antiscorbutic content of the milk of the
various domestic animals. Some claim that goat's milk is notably rich in
this particular, but experiments with it are too few to warrant
conclusions. Lind writes: "Goats, of all animals, afford the richest
whey, possessed of the greatest antiscorbutic virtue ... which in a
singular manner restores the constitution when weakened and impaired by
scurvy." Human milk possesses about the same potency as cow's milk, as
mentioned in the discussion of the occurrence of infantile scurvy in
countries where the adult form is endemic. Twelve ounces of human milk,
from a woman on a liberal and varied diet, barely sufficed to alleviate
the symptoms of a case of moderate intensity.
FRUIT JUICES
=Orange and Lemon Juice.=--The most thoroughly studied antiscorbutic
foods are orange and lemon juice, which have been singled out because
they contain the antiscorbutic factor in the highest concentration. It
has been ascertained through the work of various investigators that
guinea-pigs require about 3 c.c. daily of either of these juices to
protect them from scurvy, but that about half this amount is sufficient
to prevent the manifestation of clinical signs.
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